Watch him (and us) grow

Santa, a.k.a., Lynn, gave the studio a gift this year: our very own “Grow Your Own Elf,” purchased at one of the most amazing stores in the world, the Concord 5 and 10 (go local!).

The elf is currently sitting in a vase of water, and we’re monitoring his growth with a very official growth chart:

Silliness aside, our expanding elf serves as a good metaphor for the studio this year. Against the odds—of science (elf) and the economy (studio)—in 2009, with the addition of two new staff members, studio-e has nearly doubled in size. Along with strategic design services, we now offer in-house copywriting. We have a blog, a Twitter page and an e-newsletter, and we provide more resources via our tip sheets.

The economic climate has forced us to not only up our marketing efforts, but to also be smarter about them. More importantly, we’ve assisted our clients in streamlining their admissions and fundraising efforts, establishing individualized foundation documents from which they can communicate their institutional brand and reach their audiences in a meaningful way.

At a time when so many companies are scaling back, studio-e has pushed forward. While we’ve felt the impact of the economy, just as everyone has, we're now doing “more than ever” to better serve our clients and reach out to new ones. We look forward to working and growing with you in 2010.

In spite of the fiscal doom and gloom this year, in what ways has your institution grown? How have you, your office and/or your communications become more effective in 2009?

[The package says that it takes 10 days for the elf to reach his full potential. Follow his progress on Twitter.]